igoi 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



59 



MAJOR JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 



MAJ. JOHN WESTEY POWELL 

 is the pioneer in the scientific 

 study of the possibilities of the reclama- 

 tion of the arid region. There have 

 been other explorers of the West who, 

 before his time, have called attention to 

 the opportunities for hunting, mining, 

 and the cattle industry , but Major Powell 

 was the first to demonstrate, from a care- 

 fully detailed consideration of the vari- 

 ous conditions of climate and soil, that 

 irrigation would furnish the greatest op- 

 portunities for intensive agriculture on 

 this continent. His early work on the 

 lands of the arid region was published 

 as one of the volumes of the survey of 

 the Rocky Mountain region. It at- 

 tracted public attention to the lands of 

 the arid region, which up to that time 

 were little thought of or regarded as 

 worthless. His book still ranks as a 

 classic on the subject, and the ideas 

 which he promulgated are still advo- 

 cated by those who are desirous of see- 

 ing the public lands put to the largest 

 and best use. 



Major Powell was born at Mount 

 Morris, N. Y., March 24, 1834. He 

 graduated at the Illinois Wesleyan Uni- 

 versity, and served through the Civil 

 War in the 2d Illinois Artillery, lo.sing 

 his right arm at the Battle of Shiloh. 

 Crippled though he was, he attempted 

 and successfully carried out the explo- 

 ration of the Grand Canyon of the 

 Colorado, which before that time had 

 never been traversed by white men and 

 was regarded as impassable. The result 

 of this bold undertaking, and the 

 scholarly manner in which the results 

 were discussed, demonstrated his extra- 

 ordinar}^ scientific zeal and ability, and 

 led to the formation of what was known 

 as Powell's Survey of the Rock}- Moun- 

 tain Region. In 1879 he was appointed 

 Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 and in the next year became also Director 

 of the present Geological Survey, then in 

 its infancy. For thirteen years, during 



the formative time of these two organi- 

 zations. Major Powell remained at the 

 head of both, being the active directing 

 spirit. During all of this time he did 

 not lose sight of the vast opportunities 

 for the creation of homes in the arid 

 lands of the West, and in 1888, through 

 his continued exertions, was authorized 

 by Congress to ascertain the extent to 

 which the arid lands can be reclaimed 

 b}^ irrigation. He thus laid the founda- 

 tions for the irrigation survey, the work 



MAJOR JOHN WESLEY POWELI.. 



on which has been continued as part of 

 the operations of the Division of Hydrog- 

 raphy of the Geological vSurvey. In 

 1894 he resigned the Directorship of the 

 Geological Sur\-ey, but has remained 

 at the head of the Bureau of Ethnology. 

 He has maintained his interest in irri- 

 gation development, and has been a 

 friend and adviser to the men who are 

 endeavoring to bring about the largest 

 and best utilization of the arid region 

 in the creation of homes. 



